Thirteen-year-old Johnny Dixon and his friend Professor Childermass battle an evil wizard for possession of a bewitched hand which can be used to rule the world.

When Professor Childermass lends a collection of artifacts to a local museum, a "collector" named Mattheus Mergal appears, demanding to see it. Mergal aims to steal a bewitched wooden hand with the power to raise the dead, and if he gets his hands on it, no one will be able to stop him from terrorizing the world. Can Johnny and the professor halt him in time?